Ali Fallahian ( fa, علی فلاحیان , born 23 October 1949) is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

politician and cleric. He served as intelligence minister from 1989 to 1997 under the presidency of

Ali Akbar Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...

Early life and education

Fallahian was born in

Najafabad Najafabad ( fa, نجف‌آباد, also Romanized as Najafābād) is a city and capital of Najafabad County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 293,275, in 90,158 families. It is located west of Isfahan and is inc ...

, Iran, in 1945. He is a graduate of

Haqqani school Haghani school (also Haqqani) is a Shi'i school of thought in Iran based in the holy city of Qom and formerly headed by Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, an influential theologian. The Haghani Circle has its origin in the Haghani seminary, fo ...

Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its pop ...

Career

In 1987, Fallahian was appointed by

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

as chief prosecutor of the

Special Court for the Clergy Special Clerical Court, or Special Court for Clerics ( fa, دادگاه ویژه روحانیت) is a special Iranian court system for prosecuting Islamic clergymen and scholars accused of improper activity and conduct unbecoming of a cleric. The ...

and led the trial against

Mehdi Hashemi Mehdi Hashemi (1944 – 28 September 1987) was an Iranian Shi'a cleric who was defrocked by the Special Clerical Court. After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, he became a senior official in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards; he was executed by the I ...

. Fallahian served as a member of the 3rd

Assembly of Experts The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...

of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was also the minister of intelligence in the cabinet of then President Rafsanjani from 1989 to 1997. After Fallahian left office, his senior deputy,

Saeed Emami Saeed Emami ( fa, سعید امامی; né Saeed Eslami; (1958–1999) was the Iranian deputy minister of intelligence under Ali Fallahian, and adviser to the Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi. He was appointed as deputy minister in security affairs an ...

, was arrested for the murders of four dissidents in 1998 and 1999, Emami subsequently died in prison in what the authorities declared a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

. Fallahian began to work in the office of the Supreme Leader,

Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third presiden ...

Presidential candidacy

Fallahian was a candidate in the 2001 presidential election, which was won by incumbent reformist

Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 ...

. Fallahian came in sixth place, receiving 0.2 percent of the vote; some observers have hypothesized that the cleric only entered the election in an effort to clear his name, which has been associated with murder and political suppression. On 19 February 2013, in

Birjand Birjand ( fa, بیرجند , also Romanized as Bīrjand and Birdjand) is the capital of the Iranian province of South Khorasan. The city is known for its saffron, barberry, jujube, and handmade carpet exports. Birjand had a population of 187,0 ...

, Fallahian announced his candidacy for the

Iranian presidential election The President of Iran is the highest official elected by direct, popular vote, although the President carries out the decrees, and answers to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state.(see Article 110 of the constituti ...

, saying that "people's requests to me adreached a threshold". Running with the campaign

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

of "Advanced Islamic Country", he said that his top priority would be the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

, focusing on fighting

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

and lowering the

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refe ...

rate. He specified that he planned on continuing the subsidy reform plan, which many experts fault for undermining local businesses and the economy. Regarding diplomatic relations with the United States, he implied that he would seek improved ties, even suggesting to put an end to the

uranium enrichment Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 ...

program, saying "enough of nuclear", as Iran had "already mastered its knowledge". He added that he envisioned a "bright horizon" for cooperation between the two countries, especially in creating stability in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. His nomination was rejected by the

Guardian Council The Guardian Council, (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, fa, شورای نگهبان, Shourā-ye Negahbān) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence i ...

Accusations

Fallahian is currently on the official wanted list of

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...

in connection with the

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

of the

Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA; ) is a Jewish Community Centre located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established as ''Jevrá Kedushá'' in 1894, its mission was conceived to promote the well-being and development of Jewish life in Ar ...

(AMIA), a

Jewish Community Center A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, on 18 July 1994, that killed 85 people. The Interpol issued a

red notice An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...

for him and other suspects for their alleged roles in the attack in March 2007. The arrest warrant is based on the allegation that senior Iranian officials planned the attack in an August 1993 meeting, including Khamanei, the Supreme Leader,

Mohammad Hejazi Mohammad Hossein-Zadeh Hejazi ( fa, محمد حسین‌زاده حجازی, 20 January 1956 – 18 April 2021) was a military commander in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Early life and education Hejazi was born in Isfahan in 1956. He ...

, the then Khamanei's intelligence and security advisor,

Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...

, then president, Fallahian, then intelligence minister, and Ali Akbar Velayati, then foreign minister. In addition, he was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued in 1997 in connection with the murder of three Kurdish-Iranian opposition leaders in the

Mykonos restaurant assassinations In the Mykonos restaurant assassinations ( fa, ترور رستوران میکونوس; also the "Mykonos Incident"), Iranian-Kurdish opposition leaders Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fattah Abdoli, Homayoun Ardalan and their translator Nouri Dehkordi, w ...

. Fallahian is under an international warrant issued in 1996 by German court because of his role in the assassinations.

Sadeq Sharafkandi Sadegh Sharafkandi ( Kurdish: سادق شەڕەفکەندی, ''Sadiq Şerefkendî''; 11 January 1938 – 17 September 1992) was a Kurdish political activist and the Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI). Early ...

from Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran and three of his colleagues were assassinated September 1992 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

by Iranian-Lebanese agents. Fallahian was also the most prominent member of a group of five Iranians and Lebanese for whom international arrest warrants issued in March 2007. He was also named by investigative reporter

Akbar Ganji Akbar Ganji ( fa, اکبر گنجی , born 31 January 1960 in Tehran) is an Iranian journalist, writer and a former member of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He has been described as "Iran's preeminent political dissident", and a "wildly pop ...

as the "master key" of the 1998 " Chain Murders" of four dissident Iranian intellectuals. In December 2000, appearing before an

Islamic Revolutionary Court Islamic Revolutionary Court (also Revolutionary Tribunal, ''Dadgahha-e Enqelab''Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs'', Basic Books, 1984, p.59-61) (Persian language, Persian: دادگاه انقلاب اسلامی) is a special system of cour ...

, investigative reporter Akbar Ganji "ending months of guessing and expectations from both the authorities and the public" when he announced the "Master Key" to the chain murders of four dissident Iranian intellectuals was Fallahian. Fallahian is also charged by a Swiss court with masterminding the assassination of Kazem Rajavi, a brother of

Mujahedin-e Khalq The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...

leader

Massoud Rajavi Massoud Rajavi ( fa, مسعود رجوی, born 18 August 1948 – disappeared 13 March 2003) became the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) in 1979. In 1985, he married Maryam Rajavi, who became the co-leader of the MEK. After leaving ...

, near

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

in broad daylight by several agents on 24 April 1990. An international arrest warrant has been issued against him and as a result, he is unable to leave the country.Iran ex-minister wanted by Swiss in murder of exiled oppn leader
", ''Khaleej Times Online'', April 2006.

References

External links